Space Regulation’s Gaps, Overlaps, and Stovepipes
Plus jawboning left and right, SCOTUS analysis, new FTC nominees, and more
Space Regulation: Jim’s new paper, published by the Center for Growth and Opportunity (CGO), examines the current state of the U.S. space regulatory system, where inconsistent and redundant regulations slow down U.S. companies, and worse, may drive them overseas.
To promote the paper, Jim made his triumphant return to the Tech Policy Podcast. He and Corbin discussed the regulatory patchwork that governs outer space and what a better system might look like. One fascinating topic: Will there be war in space? And what will it look like?
Jim wrapped up this week’s space work with testimony before the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, which is considering comprehensive space legislation. About time, as after West Virginia v. EPA, is it unclear whether any agency actually has regulatory authority over commercial outer space activities.
Rule of Law: At The Bulwark, Corbin described how conservatives and liberals conveniently switched places on the question of standing in the Supreme Court’s recent student loan forgiveness case.
OceanGate: At The Daily Beast, Ari looked at how a SLAPP—a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation—played a role in the OceanGate submarine accident. “[I]f I were a lawyer that [OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush] hired to silence safety concerns . . . I’d be doing some painful soul-searching.” The article was also mentioned in Futurism.
Jawboning Target: On Substack, and reposted at TechDirt, Ari discussed how Republican state Attorneys General seem to be fine with threatening legal action against retailer Target’s free speech—a tactic called “jawboning”—even as they complain about Democrats doing just the same thing to social media companies.
AI/Section 230: Berin was quoted in the The Kansas City Star on the proposed legislation to exempt generative artificial intelligence from Section 230.
First Amendment: Above the Law mentioned Ari’s brief in Johnson v. Griffin—and the importance of briefs that focus on SLAPP cases, which are only intended to weaponize the legal system.
Content Regulation: The New Republic (paywall) quoted Ari about Missouri v. Biden, which concerns the federal government allegedly coercing social media companies over content moderation. “I am no fan of the government butting into content moderation decisions,” he said, but “in this case, I don’t really see that level of coercion.”
Threads: Agence France-Presse quoted Berin about Meta’s inability to launch its new social media app Threads in Europe, owing to the EU’s Digital Markets Act. “In practice, this could prove fatal to Threads’ rollout,” he said, “I don’t really see a good way out here for Meta.”
FTC Nominees: Global Competition Review (paywall) quoted Bilal about President Biden’s legally mandated Republican choices to fill open spots on the Commission. The three current members, he said, are “competing to be the most aggressive,” while the new picks, Andrew Ferguson and Melissa Holyoak, are “a real testament to the seriousness with which Senator McConnell's office takes these kinds of appointments.”
Microsoft/Activision: On a Twitter thread, Bilal condemned the FTC’s opposition to Microsoft acquiring Activision; a preliminary injunction against the merger was denied this week. “If the goal of current leadership is to destroy the institution by abusing its power, they may succeed,” he wrote.
Nobody regulates us out here! Except sometimes for the FCC, the FTC, maybe NOAA, maybe NASA . . .